


Snow Boots

by JenAndrews



Category: The X-Files
Genre: Angst, F/M, Family, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, MSR
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-26
Updated: 2019-05-26
Packaged: 2020-03-17 20:02:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 18,954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18972025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JenAndrews/pseuds/JenAndrews
Summary: Mulder takes his little girl to the park. Set in 2023. Takes place in my MSRChat universe. TW.





	Snow Boots

**Author's Note:**

> Edited 02/01/20 - Added GIF.
> 
> While I love creating my MSRChat videos they are limited in terms of storytelling, so I thought I would write some traditional fic to enrich that universe. Don't get lulled into a false sense of security by all the fluffiness.  
> You can find my last text video here: https://youtu.be/dkck2LXZ2yA

** Snow Boots **

 

 

Fox Mulder lowered himself onto the park bench with a slight groan. Though he was in excellent shape for a 62-year-old man, the cold weather was beginning to make his joints ache. Thankfully not enough to slow him down, or stop him from spending hours chasing his little girl around in the snow. She loved the snow. But there was very little in this world that she didn’t love, or find some marvel in.

It was late November and the weather had turned cold earlier than usual this year. The first snowfall of the season had happened over a week ago, two weeks before December. A thin, white blanket covered everything in sight, mostly undisturbed as the playground saw few visitors during these weather conditions. In fact, Mulder could only see one other child in the vicinity.

The little girl climbed onto the damp wooden bench on her hands and knees, not quite tall enough to prop herself directly onto the bench yet. She squirmed as to find a comfortable position next to her father, her purple snow boots dangling well above the ground. Her gloved hands swiped to move the unruly curls out of her face.

Mulder unzipped the backpack he had placed at his feet and removed a thermos from the bag.

“Do you want some soup?” He asked, as he unscrewed the lid.

“Yes. Thank you.” She answered, smiling and swinging her legs back and forth to keep warm.

Mulder retrieved a travel mug from the backpack and poured out a small amount of the warm liquid.

“Careful.” Mulder said, as he placed the mug in her gloved hands. “You know, when I was a kid I loved alphabet soup.”

“What’s that?” She asked, before taking a tentative sip from the mug, instinctively knowing from the steam brewing from the surface, that it could be hot.

“It’s a soup where the noodles are shaped like letters. So you could spell words or write messages on the side of your bowl.” Mulder said, replacing the lid to the thermos and placing it back into the backpack.

“Can I try some?” She asked, enthusiastically.

“I haven’t seen it in a long time, but we can try to find it.” Mulder assured her. “I bet we can find some alphabet pasta and make our own.”

“Yay! I will write my name.” The pink fur of her coat’s hood fluttered in the wind as she looked up at him with cherub-pink cheeks.

Mulder smiled down at her wondering how such a beautiful child could be his.

He glanced back out towards the playground, and his eye was drawn to the boy sitting alone on the swing set. He hadn’t noticed when they had first arrived that there were no other adults in sight. The boy looked to be about seven or eight years old, and though he himself had spent much time playing unsupervised at that age, times were much different now. The streets and public parks were not always friendly places, and he couldn’t imagine leaving his daughter alone here, even in a few years’ time. Mulder surveyed the area, trying to spot an adult that may have accompanied him, but found no one.

“Do you know what my name means, Daddy?” She asked, after swallowing a big gulp of soup.

“I certainly do, but tell me again.” Chuckled Mulder.

“It means ‘pearl’.” She said, the sound of pride swelling in her voice.

“And it suits you perfectly. Natural pearls are beautiful and rare.” Said Mulder. “You know, in some cultures Mommy’s name also means ‘perfect pearl’. It also means ‘knowledgeable’ and ‘generosity’ - that means smart and giving. So I think you both have perfect names.”

“What does your name mean?” She asked.

“Fox means ‘fox’, like the animal.” Mulder answered, putting his arm around her and hugging her to his side to keep her warm.

“How come you don’t like it?”

“I guess I never saw myself as much of a fox.”

“What do you see yourself as?” She asked, sounding much too grown up for a child who had just turned five.

“Honestly, I never saw myself as much of anything until the day you were born. Then I saw myself as a dad. I’m glad I finally get called a name I like.”

He recognised that that wasn’t entirely true. But Maggie didn’t know about William, so he couldn’t go into the particulars.

Mulder’s mind flashed back to the night he’d held William. He’d felt the same then as when he had first held his daughter. But the feeling was too fleeting, and the future too uncertain to remain permanently. Those few hours he had spent with him as a newborn, before losing him forever, made him feel more of a failure than a father. Still, he remembered that love, and the longing it brought about. Before William was born, he hadn’t known how much he had wanted children.

Part of Mulder still ached for what he and Scully had lost. But he knew his heart was chasing after something that could never be. William was a grown man now, and he’d had a father, and that father was not him. The background checks into the Van De Kamps had revealed them both to be everything he and Scully could have hoped for. Mr. Van De Kamp had loved and raised his son, _Jackson_ , and he knew that was the true essence of parenthood. Presence, love and sacrifice.  

Still, Mulder wondered what it would have been like to raise a son.

 “Can I go on the swings now, Daddy?” Asked the little girl.

“Of course.” Said Mulder, taking the empty cup from her hands.

She slid herself off the bench and began running towards the swing set. Mulder watched her as he shook the last few drops of soup from the cup and placed it back in the backpack. Lately he had been watching her play from a distance. She was getting older and he wanted to allow her to engage other children without hovering over her. But he felt an uneasiness about this other child.

It wasn’t just that he appeared to be alone, but he also did not seem to be playing. He was sitting on the swing, barely rocking back and forth, his shoulders hung down almost sadly as he stared at his feet. There was something about it that felt not quite right, and Mulder always felt compelled to follow his instincts.

He left the backpack on the bench, figuring there were no would-be thieves around for it to be at risk of being stolen. His joints protested as he climbed to his feet and followed Maggie’s trail through the snow. She had already climbed onto the swing, and was struggling to get herself moving.

As he approached he saw the boy turn to look at her, get up off the swing and checked with her before pulling the swing back and giving her a single push. He then sat back down on the other swing and returned to kicking the snow with his feet.

“Did you say ‘thank you’?” Mulder asked as he reached his daughter, now swinging quite easily after the initial momentum.

“Yes, Daddy.” She answered. Mulder had no doubt that she had, Maggie was wonderfully polite, but he’d asked as a casual way to engage the boy.

“Thank you.” Mulder said to the boy, leaning against the frame of the swing. “I’m not so quick on my feet these days.”

The little boy looked at him and nodded, but gave nothing else in response. He appeared to be clean and well-dressed for the cold weather - nothing about him screamed obvious neglect. Mulder tried to think of a way to ask him whether or not he was here alone without sounding threatening.

“Is your mother nearby? I should congratulate her on raising such a helpful kid.” Mulder chuckled.

“I’m here alone, if that’s what you were wondering.” The boy answered. The tone of his voice sounded unusually self-assured for such a small boy. “I can take care of myself.”

“I’m sure you can.” Mulder answered with a smile.  “It kinda sucks if you have to do that all the time though.”

“Yeah. It does.” The boy mumbled.

“That’s why I married a doctor. She’s really good at taking care of me.”  He laughed.

“What about me, Daddy?” Maggie squeaked, as she swung back and forth.

“Of course. You’re good at taking care of me too. My little doctor.” Mulder assured her.

“I wanna be a doctor when I’m big!”

He had a strong suspicion that Maggie would indeed grow up and follow in Scully’s footsteps. Though she had his boundless energy and enthusiasm for the strange, she was also born with a love for others and a generous spirit. She’d healed his heart and his being the moment she was born. She’d restored and mended parts of him he had never even realised were pained and broken. She was a healer and an explorer. She was a Scully and a Mulder. He had no doubt that whichever side of her became dominant that she would do extraordinary things.

“I want to be a bear!” Mulder joked, moving behind her and giving her a push.

“A bear?!” She laughed.

“Yeah. Then I would have a thick fur coat, and wouldn’t be freezing my ass off right now.” He said, pushing her higher.

“You’re supposed to say ‘butt’!” She chided.

“Sorry. Sorry. Don’t tell Mommy, will you? Or the bear will have to eat your legs!” Mulder growled, running around to the front of the swing and pretending to swipe at her feet. “Grrrr!”

“No!” She squealed, pulling her legs back and giggling uncontrollably. “Don’t eat my legs!”

Mulder reached for her legs with every swing towards him, laughing at the little girl’s delight. Out of the corned of his eye he could see that the boy was watching them play, and when he looked directly at him Mulder thought he could see tears in his eyes before he turned his face downwards. Now he felt certain this boy needed some kind of help.

“Do you want me to push you?” Mulder asked the boy, wondering if maybe he didn’t know how. He doubted that was the case at his age, Maggie had been able to swing pretty well since age three, but all kids were different.

The boy shook his head to decline the offer.

“You’re sure?” Mulder offered again, seeing what looked like uncertainty in his expression.

The boy nodded in affirmation and jumped off of the swing, walking away towards the bench where the backpack sat. As he sat down on the bench Mulder considered that maybe the boy intended to steal the bag, and if that were the case it possibly meant that he was hungry, neglected or abused.

“I’ll be right back, sweetie.” Mulder said, giving Maggie a huge push to keep her going.

“Okay, Mr. Bear.” She laughed.

Mulder walked back over to the bench. The boy turned his attention to his hands as he approached. Mulder sat down on the bench and picked up the backpack. He rummaged around for a moment before pulling out a lunchbox. Though he wasn’t at all hungry, he retrieved a sandwich from the container, unwrapped it and began eating.

“We packed way too much today.” Mulder lied. “Do you want a sandwich, or a granola bar? Or both?” He said, holding the offerings out to the boy. Mulder was surprised when the boy nodded and reached out and took the granola bar. The boy peeled away the wrapping and chewed on the end of the chocolate chip treat.

“Chocolate chip was always my favourite when I was a kid. To be honest, I think those are the only kind worth eating.” Mulder smiled, and the boy nodded in agreement.  

“My mom used to make all different kinds of snacks.” Said the boy. “Healthy mostly. But sometimes she would make rice crispy bars with M&Ms, if I was good. But I wasn’t good very often. I tried to be.”

“No kid is good all of the time. Usually when they are bad it’s because they are struggling with something. Because they are hungry, tired or sad and they need food, sleep or a hug. It’s not much different with grown-ups.” Mulder said, before taking another bite of his sandwich. He wondered why the kid was speaking in past tense.

“I wish I could go back and make it up to her.” He said, dropping the granola bar to his lap.

Mulder wondered if the boy had run away from home, and that was why he was in the park alone.

“I bet she’s already forgiven you.” Mulder tried to assure him.

“I hope so.” He said, looking away sadly.

“If you need help with anything, anything at all, just let me know, okay?” Mulder’s instinct was to reach out and pat the boy on the shoulder, like a father or big brother would, but he knew making any kind of physical contact with a stranger’s child in the park was a bad idea.

“Daddy!” Squealed the little girl as she bounded towards them. “I wanna build a snowman!”

“Mags, I really don’t think there’s enough snow for that.”

“Just a little one! Then we can send a picture to Mommy!” She bounced up and down with enthusiasm, pulling away the pink fur-lined hood away from her face. He couldn’t help but smile any time he saw her smile. It made it near impossible to say no to her, and luckily for him she hadn’t yet used her adorable powers of persuasion for evil.

“Okay.” He said, placing the remains of his sandwich back in the lunch box and putting it back into the backpack. He readjusted the glasses on his face as he stood up and followed her onto the nearby snowy grass. She was already on her knees scooping up the watery mess with her gloves.

Mulder plonked himself down beside her, knowing his clothing was going to end up soaked through and his joints were going to seek revenge tonight. It didn’t matter to him though, as time with his little girl was precious and he didn’t intend for his age or his body to deprive him of one moment of it.

He pitied the young fathers who had to spend their children’s childhood working, and those who missed out on playing with their children simply because it didn’t interest them to show up. There was nothing better than this. The only thing that made moments like this better was when Scully was watching them from the sidelines, smiling and shaking her head at their antics - if he couldn’t convince her to participate in the antics himself. He’d dragged her into more than one ball pit in his time.

He missed her during the days she was working. Though she’d been by his side in some way or another for over thirty years, they were never as unified as they were now, and he felt every moment of her absence. They were married and had a young child, which of course had brought them closer. But time and age were what had broken down any remaining walls that kept them apart. They both felt the clock ticking, and neither of them was willing to waste a single moment of the life they had left.

If he wanted to hold her hand, he did. If she needed his attention, he gave it. If he wanted her to know that he loved her, he told her. There was no restraint. No fear. Mulder and Scully, FBI, had become a stereotypical old married couple and he couldn’t have been happier about that fact.

The past six years, since he’d discovered Scully was expecting his child, had been the most joyful years of his life. Even in those early years living together, after he had escaped prison, it hadn’t come close. Both of them had felt the absence of their son, and nothing ever felt like it should have been. There was comfort, closeness and passion, but there was also pain, longing, guilt and resentment. There were walls. Walls neither of them knew how to scale. But with the years the walls had slowly crumbled.

They’d crumbled that night she came to him in that motel room. They’d crumbled that night by the old sugar factory. They’d crumbled in the aftermath of that day… in the tears and confessions and the holding each other together. They’d crumbled with the pregnancy and birth and sleepless nights and first steps. Now nothing stood between them. She was his wife. He was her husband. Their life was one.

Mulder scooped up another handful of snow and moulded it into the snowman’s body.

“This is a funny looking snowman.” He chuckled. Mulder glanced behind him towards the bench and saw that the boy was watching them. Mulder smiled at him and the boy smiled back.

“Hey.” Whispered Mulder, to the little girl. “Do you think we should invite the boy to come help us? He looks like he might be bored.”

Maggie smiled and nodded her head.

“Hey, would you like to come help us?” Mulder called over his shoulder. The boy nodded his head in affirmation and began to walk over to them.

“I’m going to find some arms.”  Said Maggie, climbing to her feet and looking around.

“Don’t go too far.” Mulder called as she started running towards a nearby tree in search of some branches.

“Okay, Daddy.” She called over her shoulder.

The boy sat down next to Mulder and patted a handful of snow into the somewhat lopsided sculpture. He hoped that the boy would feel comfortable enough to speak when he was ready.  If he had run away from home, he knew he couldn’t leave him alone here in the park. Anything could happen to him and temperatures overnight could drop low enough to kill a person without any kind of shelter.

“Did your dad ever build a snowman with you?” The boy asked.

“Not that I can recall. He worked a lot. He did play catch with me when he had the time, though.” Answered Mulder.

“She’s lucky to have a dad like you.” The boy said, glancing towards Maggie who was on the ground uncovering a stick from its icy coating.

“Thank you.” There really wasn’t a better compliment one could pay Fox Mulder. Being a good father meant everything to him. Still, the boy’s words had raised questions in his mind. Was the boy’s father absent or did the kid consider himself ‘unlucky’ when it came to fathers? Mulder could certainly relate to that.

“What about your dad?” Mulder ventured.

“We used to make a snowman together at the start of every winter... When he was alive.”

“I’m sorry.” Mulder couldn’t imagine what it was like to lose a parent so young. “I bet you miss him a lot.”

The only real concern he had about raising Maggie so late in life was the increased possibility of dying and leaving her without a father. He did his best to take care of his health, and he knew that youth was no guarantee of staying alive, but the fear was there in the back of his mind. Though he supposed that fear would have been there regardless of his age, because he could think of nothing worse than being separated from her or Scully.

Realistically his life was in much bigger jeopardy when he was younger, and working on the X-Files. Now his days were spent having tea parties and getting his nails painted. There was little stress running around on an old farm, flying kites and teaching his daughter how to grow vegetables. He may very well live to be one hundred with his current lifestyle. As long as Scully was with him. If he ever lost her, he knew for certain that it wouldn’t be long before he followed. She was too much a part of him for him to survive without her. A person can only live so long with half of a heart.

Mulder’s coat pocket sounded and buzzed. He smiled gently at the boy as he pulled out his phone.

“That’ll be my wife.” Said Mulder, unlocking his phone with his thumb. “She always messages me during her lunch break.”

Mulder read the message and chuckled to himself.

“What did she say?” Asked the boy.

“Nothing appropriate for young ears.” Mulder answered, as he tapped out an equally inappropriate reply on his phone. The boy laughed and Mulder couldn’t help but smile. He slid the phone back into his pocket. “So do you have a name?”

Mulder thought the boy was warming up to him and could possibly get an answer out of him, but was disappointed when the boy shook his head.

“No name?” Mulder took his denial in stride. “Your name isn’t ‘Fox’ by any chance? Is it? That’s my name and I like to pretend it doesn’t exist. I tell some people my name is ‘Bob’. But mainly I go by ‘Mulder’.”

“I like that name.” Said the boy.

“Which one?” Asked Mulder.

“Fox.”

“I think you and Maggie over there are the only ones that do.” Snickered Mulder as he looked over at his daughter. She was wandering back towards them carrying an unnecessary amount of sticks. “That’s a lot of sticks, Mags. Are we making a snowman or an octopus?”

“It’s going to be a monster snowman!” She said, dropping the pile of sticks onto the ground.

“That is my kind of snowman.” Mulder said, picking up a stick and jamming it into the side of the icy figure. Maggie did the same on the other side.

“He needs some scary eyes.” She declared. “What do we use for that?”

“Maybe some of these leaves would work?” Mulder said, pulling some dry leaves from the dead sticks. He tried to make them stick on the face of the statue, but it wouldn’t stay put. “Or maybe not. We might have to find some rocks.”

“Let’s go look for some.” Said Maggie.

“Okay.” Said Mulder, climbing to his feet. He was damp and freezing, but luckily his trench coat had stopped the snow from soaking through his pants. Maggie took his hand and Mulder led her towards a nearby garden bed, where there was sure to be some stones or bark they could use.

Mulder turned back around and saw the boy had risen to his feet and was beginning to walk away.

“Hey!” Mulder called. “Why don’t you help us look?”

If Mulder lost this kid without finding out his name it would haunt him forever. If he didn’t have a name he had no way of tracing the boy and ensuring he wasn’t a missing or neglected child. All of his instincts were screaming that this kid needed him. He wasn’t sure why, or in what capacity he needed assistance, but he could feel it.

Mulder was relieved when the boy nodded and trotted after them. They both waited for the boy to catch up. Mulder was surprised when the little boy reached out and took his empty hand.

Mulder wasn’t sure how to react. It felt as natural as taking his own child’s hand, but he was a relative stranger to this boy and he knew it would appear very odd if his parent should show up. Though perhaps said parent would realise how easily a small child could be abducted in a public park and start supervising him appropriately.

Maggie started pulling him forward and Mulder moved along, boy in tow. The garden bed was only about twenty yards away, but the journey there seemed much further. Time felt as though it had slowed as the three of them walked together. His hands felt wonderfully full, and Mulder couldn’t help but imagine what it would be like if Maggie had had another sibling. He was remarkably blessed to have her, of course. She was a literal miracle baby, and wanting more seemed absurd. Still…

“Looks like we may have to dig a little.” Said Mulder, releasing both of their hands.

Most of the garden was covered in snow. The boy crouched down and started uncovering the bark below. Maggie watched and did the same.

“Found one.” Said the boy, holding up a small black pebble. “Is it scary enough?” He asked.

“Looks scary to me.” Answered Mulder. “What do you think? Maggie?”

“That’s very scary!” Mulder laughed to himself, it was an ordinary round pebble. But Maggie saw whatever her imagination wanted her to see. The boy walked over to Maggie and placed the pebble in her gloved hand.

“Thank you.” Maggie said, smiling at him.

“No problem.” The boy said, smiling back at her.

Mulder kicked at the snow, freeing up the ground below.

“Pay dirt!” He said, pointing at the pebbles at his feet.

“Lots of scary eyes!” Maggie squeaked.

“Oh, yeah. If it’s a monster snowman I guess we need more than two, huh? How many eyes are we going to need, Mags?”

“Five!” She answered, leaning down to pick up some more stones.

“Don’t forget an extra for the nose and buttons. I didn’t bring any carrots for lunch today.” Said Mulder.

“How many is this?” Maggie asked, holding out her dirty gloves filled with pebbles.

“Looks like nine.” Answered Mulder. “Let’s get this snow on the road. See what I did there?”

“I’m five, but I still know that was a bad joke, Daddy.” Giggled Maggie.

The boy snickered. Mulder feigned offence.

The three of them walked back to the incomplete monster snowman. Maggie leant down on her knees and began placing the eyes in the snowman’s head. She had gotten up to placing the fifth eye in and it occurred to Mulder that the boy might like to do the last one.

“Why don’t you let William help?” Said Mulder. He was shocked it had come out of his mouth. He’d never even spoken that word to Maggie.

“Who’s William?” Asked the boy. Mulder had no idea what to say. How could he deny his son’s existence to his daughter’s face?

“I just don’t know your name. I have to call you something, right?” Mulder said, trying to deflect the situation.

“He’s my brother.” Said Maggie, turning to the boy.

“Maggie. How do you know about William?” Mulder said, crouching down on the ground.

“I just know.” She said turning towards him.

“The same way you know other things?” Mulder asked, tilting his head to the side. Though Maggie had never demonstrated any physical abilities, she certainly had extrasensory perception when it came to her parents.

On one occasion, when she was two years old, she had been sitting on the floor drawing, when she suddenly started screaming about her foot hurting. Mulder was driving her to hospital when Scully texted him that she had injured herself at work. An idiot nurse had run over her foot with a gurney.

It wasn’t just their pain that she could sense either, but their happiness too. Mulder wondered if that was the reason she had always been so remarkably happy, even as a baby. She could feel her parents joy and love before she even knew what words were, perhaps even before she was born.

“Why have you never asked about him?” Mulder questioned.

“Because I didn’t want to make you and Mommy sad. Mommy always cries on his birthday. I don’t want you to cry too.” She said, sadly. Her bright blue eyes shone their concern for him.

Mulder really could cry at this moment. How did he create such a remarkable and beautiful little girl?

“You don’t have to worry about us, okay?” Mulder said, pulling the little girl into his arms. “We love William and we miss him. We never said anything because we didn’t want you to have to miss him too. We don’t want you to be sad either.” He said, kissing the little girl on top of her head. “Okay?”

Maggie nodded and smiled. She turned to the boy and handed him the rest of the rocks.

The boy smiled and placed the fifth eye in and then the nose.

Mulder tried to steady his emotions. It wasn’t such a surprise to him that she knew about William. He knew how special his little girl was. But it did take him aback that she was remaining silent in her knowledge to protect her parents. She was so little, but her heart was so, so big.

“Why don’t you use those last three for buttons?” Suggested Mulder.

The boy handed the last three pebbles to Maggie and she pressed them into the monster snowman’s stomach.

“That is one fine looking monster snowman. I don’t know about you, but I am ready for some hot soup. I am freezing.”

“I’m not cold, Daddy.” Said Maggie. “But I would like some more of your soup.”

Mulder stumbled onto his feet. His knees reminded him that he was definitely going to pay for this tonight. Luckily his wife was a doctor, and also came with a few attributes beyond her medical training that had the ability to make him feel young again.

 “Okay.” Said Mulder, reaching down to pick up the backpack. “Who wants soup and sandwiches?”

Mulder turned back around to look at the children, but was astonished to find the boy was gone. He had only turned away for a moment. It was like he had vanished into thin air.

“Where did the boy go?” Asked Mulder, looking around and feeling an unreasonable amount of worry.

“He went that way.” Answered Maggie, pointing at a huge oak tree. “He said he’d be back tomorrow.”

“I didn’t hear him say anything.” Mulder furrowed his brow at her.

“That’s because he didn’t say it with his mouth.” Maggie explained, as if it was obvious and she was considering whether or not her father was a complete moron.

“Was he going home?” Asked Mulder.

“I don’t think he has a home.”

***

“Alright, now the Youtube lady says to lightly spray the pan.” Said Mulder, handing his daughter the cooking spray. “You got this?”

“I got this!” She said giving her dad a high five.

“That’s my girl.” Mulder knew half of the spray would end up on the table or in a puddle in the pan, but it didn’t matter.

He stirred the mixture of butter and melted marshmallow sitting on the hot plate.

“Mommy is home.” She said, happily. That likely meant that Scully had reached the gate to the property and would be walking through the door in a few minutes. Ever since Scully had returned to work a few years ago, Maggie knew when her mother was close to home.

“Alright, when she comes in, you tell her that all of this sugar was your idea. Got it?”

Maggie giggled and shook her head ‘no’.

“Traitor!” Mulder said, tickling her stomach and taking the can of Pam from her hands. “I think this is well and truly sprayed, Mags.” Mulder said, chuckling. “Let’s hope the recipe calls for a mini lake of oil.”

“Okay now, this goes in this.” Mulder said taking the marshmallow from the hotplate and bringing it over to the bowl of rice crispies. He poured the sticky mixture into the bowl.

“Can I stir it?” She asked, hopefully.

“In a few minutes, it’s a little too hot at the moment.  You can stir in the M&Ms, okay?”

“Okay.” She said, satisfied by the compromise.

Mulder stirred the mixture with a wooden spoon. It was going to be a bit too thick and tough for her little muscles, and he knew she was going to struggle with distributing the M&Ms. He’d have to hold the bowl so it didn’t end up crashing to the floor, and there was a good chance that she’d end up tossing half the mixture out with the wooden spoon. But that was the deal when baking with kids, and Mulder wouldn’t have it any other way. He knew it would pay off in a few years when she could cook her own meals.

“Okay, you can pour those in now.” Mulder said, pointing to the bowl of M&Ms that she held eagerly in her hands. Mulder picked her up and helped her onto the step stool and she poured the chocolate candies into the mixture. “All yours.” Mulder smiled, handing her the wooden spoon.

Mulder heard the creaking sound of the front door opening, and a swash of red hair appeared in the living room.

“Look Mommy! We’re making rice crispy treats.” Said Maggie, excitedly.

Mulder stood behind his daughter, pointing at her and mouthing “her idea”.

Scully laughed and shook her head as she hung up her coat. She knew very well whose idea it was. It wasn’t that Mulder had a big sweet tooth, more so that he loved to see Maggie happy. He loved making cakes and cookies with her, but Scully had pushed him to agree to limit the sweets to once a week. Otherwise they would be drowning in baked goods. He still enjoyed cooking with her. He’d even made soup with her yesterday, using produce they had taken from their vegetable garden.

She took a moment to admire her husband. He stood with his arms around their daughter’s sides, grasping onto the large clear bowl as she haphazardly tried to stir the mixture. His glasses were sliding down his nose and the kitchen lights illuminated the silver in his hair. He was smiling and his eyes were so gentle and loving whenever he looked at his little girl. It had been five years and she still couldn’t get enough of that look. Before Maggie, she never imagined that she could love him more. But seeing the way that he loved their child made her fall even deeper.

She walked over to the kitchen table, smiling.

“That looks yummy.” She said, smiling at her daughter.

“Now it goes into the Pam lake.” Mulder said, grabbing the baking tin and holding it out for Scully to see the excessive amount of oil.  She smiled knowingly at him. Letting a five year old assist in the kitchen rarely went smoothly. But it never discouraged them from involving her. “Alright, we got this.”

Mulder helped her pour the mixture into the pan with a spoon.

“Now we pat it down with clean hands. Do you want to do this part?” Mulder asked. Maggie nodded.

“Mommy, you forgot something in the car.” Said Maggie, as she pushed her hand down onto the mixture.

“No, I didn…” Scully paused, remembering the gift she had picked up for Maggie on her lunch break. As she had walked to a café close to the hospital, she had passed by a shoe store and seen them in the window. Scully smiled. “Do you know what it is?”

“No. But you told yourself to remember it, so I remembered it for you.” Said Maggie, smiling and holding up her sticky and greasy hands.

“Thank you, baby.” Scully said. She was so proud of her little girl. She hadn’t reminded Scully because she knew it was a gift for her; she had reminded Scully because she knew it was something important to her. She had been so overwhelmed by work today, that she had told herself not to forget when she put the shoes in the trunk of her car during her lunch break. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

Scully grabbed her car keys and left through the front door, throwing Mulder a smile before she left.

“Alrighty, let’s wash these hands.” Mulder said, lifting her off of the stool and over to the sink, where he placed her on the ground. They both scrubbed their hands with soap and dried them on a handtowel hanging on the back of a cabinet door.

Scully reappeared a moment later, carrying a large pink gift bag in her hand. She shook it to garner their attention and Mulder and Maggie turned to look at her.

“Is that a present, Mommy?” Asked Maggie, trying to contain the excitement in her voice in case it wasn’t for her.

“It sure is. Do you want to have a look?” Scully said, already overjoyed by the excitement on the girl’s face.

“Yes!” She said, rushing towards her mother, her dark curls bouncing up and down as she ran.

“Okay, sit down.” Scully said, gesturing towards the couch. The little girl hurdled towards the old sofa and sat up expectantly.

Scully walked over to her and handed her the bag. Maggie reached in and pulled out the contents, revealing a pair of quilted, pastel pink snow boots with a rainbow on the side. The top was lined with pink fur and the laces were a metallic silver.

“Oh! Thank you, Mommy!” She squeaked in delight. “They’re so pretty! Can I wear them now?”

“You can try them on and make sure they are the right size.” Scully said, sitting beside her and reaching for the boots to help her put them on. “Let’s hope we don’t have to exchange them.”

Scully loosened the laces and held the boot out for Maggie. The little girl wriggled her foot into the shoe. Scully pressed on the top, trying to feel how far her toes were from the tip of the shoe.

“Seems like a good fit.” Scully said, helping her put on the other boot. She loved seeing so much joy on her daughter’s face. Scully couldn’t remember ever being that excited about footwear. Scully did up the laces and Maggie stood up from the couch.

“Daddy! Daddy! Look at my new boots!” Maggie said, running to the kitchen and bouncing up and down at Mulder’s feet. “They have rainbows!”

“Wow! I am jealous! I want a pair!” Mulder said, sounding almost sincere. “Where’s mine, Mommy?” Mulder said, glancing over at Scully, who was now lying back against the couch.

“You’ll get yours later. If you’re good.” She grinned. Mulder didn’t have to try too hard to read between those lines.

“I’ll be good.” Mulder shot back, making a crossing gesture across his heart. “Promise.”

***

Mulder sunk himself into to the large clawfoot tub. Even after all of these years, he wasn’t quite sure what made Scully’s baths so much better. He wouldn’t have thought that filling a tub with water from the faucet required much skill or could vary significantly in results, but the water just felt better when she filled it.

When Scully had decided that she didn’t want to move houses, they had done a great deal to improve the property. Renovating the bathroom had been first on the list, and even though all the tiles and fixtures were glistening and new, the room retained its old and earthy, farmhouse quality. Mulder had done most of the work himself, as he wanted to be the one to build the life that Scully had always dreamt of.

For so many years she’d gone without. Looking back, he found it hard to understand why she had stuck around for so long. He’d never understood her interest in furnishings or wanting to change things. At one time, this house was just walls and shelter to him - no different than his office at the bureau or his old apartment. It was simply a place to continue his work undisturbed. But what Scully had longed for was a home, and a partner who could recognise what that meant.

It hadn’t truly clicked with him until the day they were painting Maggie’s nursery together. When he realised they were creating the backdrop for all of the happy memories that were to come. All of those times when Scully had expressed her desire to change or build or make things nicer, he’d met her with disinterest. He hadn’t realised that it was never about the bathtub not being big enough, it was always about the memories that she wanted to create with him.

That swing she’d wanted for the front porch that Mulder argued was too cumbersome and time consuming to assemble, wasn’t so she could sit outside and read. It was because she imagined sitting outside and watching the sunrise together during the summer, or drinking coffee and keeping each other warm during the winter.

If he could, he’d have gone back in time and given his past self a knock in the teeth, but he found his atonement in painstaking manual labour.  There was no better way to prove his dedication to building a home with her than doing it with his own two hands. He’d done everything he could to prove his commitment, and he hoped that in doing so it mended some of the ignorance he’d shown in the past, and the hurt that it had caused her.

It only took a few minutes for the heat of the water to lessen the pain in his limbs. Scully had given her doctor’s orders and he was to stay here amongst the lavender-scented bubbles for at least twenty minutes. She’d dimmed the lights and lit candles for him. He hoped that meant she’d be joining him tonight. Typically they bathed together at least once a week, in the bath or shower. He preferred the bath though, with enough space to comfortably wrap her legs around his waist and relax together. It pained him to realise how many years of bathing with her he’d missed, simply because he failed to realise what Scully wanting a bigger tub meant.

Mulder heard the bathroom door opening, before being closed again and locked shut. His eyes were closed, already sleepy from the warmth and smell of lavender, but he knew she was there.

“What’s up, doc?” Mulder gave a pleasured groan. He opened his eyes to see her standing above him, wearing her white, silk bathrobe.

“Mind if I join you?” She smiled down at him.

“Yes. Get out.” He feigned annoyance.

“Okay.” She laughed and turned to walk away.

“Hey. Get back here!” He called. “I take it back!”

Scully slid off her robe and let it fall to the floor. Mulder looked her up and down before meeting her eyes and smiling at her fondly. His wife sure was beautiful.

“I hope all you patients don’t get this special treatment.” He joked.

“Only the ones I’m married to.” She said, stepping into the tub and lowering herself down into the water.

Mulder sat up and reached for her legs, pulling them towards him until they wrapped around his waist. The warm water flowed between their bodies, making way for their union. He hugged her close for a moment, so her naked body was pressed tightly against him. This was home to him.

He knew her body so well that she was like an extension of him. He knew all the freckles and lines, the scents and tastes, where to touch to soothe her or excite her. She draped her arms over his shoulders and around his neck, suckling on his earlobe playfully and nuzzling into his neck. Mulder lived for this.

She pulled away, trailing her lips along his jaw before meeting his mouth and kissing him softly. Her tongue gently stroked his a few times, before she brought her hands up to caress the sides of his face. She leaned her forehead lovingly against his, in a display of comfort and connection that was blissfully familiar. Scully then trailed the tip of her nose along the bridge of his, before giving him a soft kiss on his brow.

They pulled away and smiled at each other, their eyes conveying their love and kinship.

 “So… How was your day… dear?” Mulder asked, softly. He still couldn’t say the word ‘dear’ without a hint of irony or sarcasm in his voice. But they both knew he meant it with true affection.

“Pretty much like yours, I imagine… Exhausting.” She answered, removing his fogged up glasses and placing them on the shelf beside them.

“Yeah, saving lives and building lopsided snowmen are totally the same thing.” Mulder grinned.

“Looks like you’re paying the price for it tonight.” Said Scully, with concern in her voice. “Is the pain any better?”

“Yeah. But I hear naked women have one hell of a placebo effect, so I can’t be sure.” He said, moving in to kiss her neck.

Scully smiled at him as he pulled away again.

“Did you remember to take your anti-inflammatories?” She asked.

“Yes. It’s really not that bad. I’m just an old man and it’s my prerogative to complain. “ He joked. “You’re still a hot, young thing in your fifties, you wouldn’t understand.”

“Not for much longer.” She snickered.

“That’s right. Only a few more months until your retirement.” Mulder looked pleased by the idea.

“Yes.” Answered Scully, looking uncertain.

“Having second thoughts?” Mulder asked, stroking her hair behind her ear. He couldn’t say he wouldn’t be disappointed if she decided to keep working - selfishly he wanted her all to himself again.  But he’d support her regardless of his own feelings.

“No. I just know that I’m going to feel uneasy about the fact that I could do more. I still have a few more years left in me.”

“More than a few, I hope.” Mulder said, squeezing a washcloth over her shoulder and sending trails of water running down her chest.

“But I want those years to be ours.” She explained. “You and me. Making memories with Maggie, before our bodies get too old and tired for us to do not much else but this.”

“I could live with just this.” Mulder cupped her wet breast and gently stroked her nipple with his thumb.

“I doubt you’ll be saying that when I’m in my seventies and all droopy.” She said, sliding her fingers through the silver strands in his hair.

“I think we’ve been over this more than once. You’re always going to be the younger woman that I’m chasing.” He said, moving his hand down to her backside and giving it a playful squeeze for emphasis. “Maybe you’ll finally believe me by the time we hit our nineties.”

Scully smiled, considering the possibility that they might still have thirty or more years together.

“I hope we have that much time.” She said, earnestly.

“Me too.” Whispered Mulder, drawing her in for a loving kiss. He pulled away and stared at her for a moment, wondering the right way to broach the subject, and whether this was the right time.

“What is it?” Scully could read him like a book, and she knew he was about to tell her something that she may not like.

“I’ve got to tell you something, about what happened today.”  The hesitation was evident in his voice.

“Okay.” She answered, apprehensively.

“The boy that I told you about earlier.” Mulder started.

“The one you saw in the park today?”

Mulder had already told her about the boy and his concerns for his welfare.

“He and Maggie were building the snowman together, and I accidentally called him ‘William’.”

“That’s okay, Mulder.” Said Scully, relieved that he didn’t have anything terrible to tell her. “I’ve done it myself, with patients at the hospital, once I’ve bonded with them. I think maybe it’s just our mind trying to fill in the empty places of our heart.”

“That’s not all, Scully.” Mulder put his hand on her shoulder, and gave her a comforting squeeze. He knew any time William came up the potential for tears came with it. Especially in recent years, when she made no effort to hide her emotions from him. “After I said his name, Maggie told the boy that William was her brother. Then she told me that she never mentioned him to us because she didn’t want us to be sad.”

In the dim candlelight, Mulder could see Scully’s expression change to one of sorrow.

“Our sweet girl.” She said, looking away sadly. “It’s not surprising though, is it? She can sense our pain, and William is really the only source of pain we have left in our lives. To her it must contrast so drastically with everything else she feels. Did you speak to her about him?”

Mulder shook his head.

“No. I wanted to talk to you first. And to be honest, I wouldn’t know where to begin. I told her that we loved William, and that we didn’t tell her about him because we didn’t want her to have to miss him to.”

Scully nodded and avoided his gaze, and Mulder could sense she was about to cry.

“Hey. Come here.” Whispered Mulder, not giving her chance to respond before pulling her body up against him and burying himself in her neck. “It’s okay.” He soothed, running his dripping fingers up her spine and into her hair.

“Do you?” Scully muttered, so quietly that Mulder wasn’t even sure he’d heard it.

“Do I what?” He mumbled against her wet hair.

“Still miss him?” It sounded painful for her to get the words out.

Mulder pulled away from her, and looked into her eyes.

“Of course I do.” He was confused by the question. Did he give her some indication that he didn’t care?

“I’m sorry.” She stuttered. Her face looked just how it did that night by the old sugar factory.

“For what?” Mulder searched her face, hoping that if he looked carefully enough he’d be able to locate the source of her pain. After so many years together, there were times when they could communicate even the most complex things without saying a word. This was one of those times. “Scully… don’t.”

“I still feel so guilty.” She sobbed. Mulder pulled her into him again, cradling her body against his.

“Don’t. I’m serious, Scully. It doesn’t matter. It never mattered. Not to me.”

Scully felt guilty that Mulder had spent decades of his life grieving for a child that wasn’t even his. Except to Mulder, he was his, and always would be, regardless of his DNA. Scully felt like she had lied to Mulder… misled him somehow, into believing they had a son together. But neither of them were ever sure where he’d come from. He had long decided that it didn’t matter. He’d decided that before William was even born, and after all this time, Scully still didn’t seem to know that.

Scully’s body gently trembled against him as she muffled her sobs against his neck.

“Listen to me, Scully.” Mulder soothed. “All those years ago, when you asked me to be your sperm donor… I said ‘yes’ for a reason. I wanted to have a family with you. I know that’s not what you were asking, or able to ask of me at that time… But that’s what I was agreeing to, in my mind. I was agreeing to be a dad to your kids. He was yours, so he was mine. That’s it. End of story.”

Mulder spent the next few minutes trailing the washcloth up her back, soothing her with the warm water, and letting her soak up all of the comfort from him that she needed.

When she finally pulled away and looked at him with such sadness, his heart ached to make her feel better.

“Knowing the truth wouldn’t have changed how I felt about either of you. I can promise you that. Even if that kid had come out looking like E.T… it was going to be mine, alright? That was the deal, wasn’t it? You and me?” Mulder said, tilting his head and smiling. “That’s still the deal, right?”

“Right.” She answered with a slight smile, and Mulder could see the weight lift from her a little.

“You and me.” He whispered, leaning his forehead against hers.

They stayed like that for a moment, soaking each other up. Damp skin and candlelight. Warm water and mingled breathes.

“I love you.” She whispered, so grateful for this man who had been by her side through so much and for so long.

“You’d better.” He teased. “I don’t just share my bubble baths with anyone, Dr. Scully.”

“I just wish…”

“I know. I do too.” Answered Mulder. His lips slowly descended onto hers, and he kissed her gently. “But we got our little miracle.  You’re my alien baby, baby mama.”

“What?” Scully started giggling, tears still in her eyes. “Sometimes I wonder if it isn’t her alien DNA that makes her different. Perhaps she just takes after my sister. Missy always used to say that she could sense things. Sometimes she seemed to know things without any explanation as to how. I never believed her, but perhaps that was my shortcoming.”

“I don’t care why she is the way she is. She’s absolutely perfect.” Mulder said, with conviction in his voice. “Life got better the moment I found out she existed. You both saved me that night, Scully.”

“You both saved me too.” Scully assured him, cupping his face with her hand and gently stroking his slight whiskers with her thumb.

“I wanted him back. I wanted him back so badly. Not just because he’s my son, but because he was the proof.” He said, gazing into her eyes with a look of longing.

“The proof of what?” She whispered.

“Proof of what we shared. Proof that we are family. Proof that the two of us together can make miracles.”

“Mulder…” Tears were welling in her eyes again.

“I saw that miracle destroyed before my eyes. I didn’t just feel like I’d lost my son, I felt like I’d lost you forever. That nothing would ever be right again, like I’d always hoped it could be. I always believed that the three of us would be together again, someday. You tried to help me let go of that, and at the same time you restored me. You gave me a lifeline, and something to hold onto. You gave me the proof that the two of us together can create miracles… that was never a lie.”

“No. It wasn’t.” She said, moving in to kiss him.

This kiss was different. It wasn’t just offering comfort or seeking it, it was hungry and even verging on desperate. She loved him so much.

It was such a pleasant surprise that she could feel this way at her age. The passion and desire she felt for Mulder surpassed anything her teenage self could even have dreamt up. That twenty-something year old who had thought she was in love with Daniel Waterston? She had no fucking clue.

She had no idea how many times that she and Mulder had been together in the past few decades, but she was sure it had to be a four digit number. How then could she still want him so badly? Still thirst for his touch as much as she had in the beginning? 

Scully’s hips were grinding against his waist. Mulder could sense her want, and his body quickly answered the call.

“What do you say we get out of here, and I can really take care of you?” Scully panted through desperate kisses.

“Whatever you say, doctor.”

***

Mulder and Scully walked hand in hand through the park, watching their little girl hurry along in front of them. She was continuously fascinated by the new boots on her feet. She ran and jumped, forcing her boots deeper into the snow and leaving the imprint of a heart every time she did.

“I think you’ve outdone those light up, purple rain boots. Remember how much she loved those?” Asked Mulder.

“She was so sad when she outgrew them and we had to donate them to goodwill.” Said Scully. “I think the only thing that consoled her was the knowledge that another kid would get to enjoy them. I wonder if they make light up snow boots.”

“I think she’d lose her mind.” Mulder chuckled.

Maggie stopped walking and looked up at a nearby tree. Within a few seconds Mulder and Scully had caught up to her. Mulder and Scully looked up at the tree but couldn’t see anything particularly fascinating. It was a beautiful tree to be sure. The whole park was full of beautiful, old, oak trees. Certainly some of the biggest in the D.C. area.

“What are you looking at, sweetie?” Scully asked, putting her hand on Maggie’s shoulder.

“Nothing.” She said, and continued skipping along happily.

Scully turned to look at Mulder, who shrugged and smiled and took her hand again.

“It is a nice tree.” Said Mulder.

***

“He’s over there, Mommy!” Said Maggie, excitedly pointing at the same boy they had encountered yesterday. He was sitting on the bench, where Mulder had spoken to him the day before.

Mulder felt a weight lifted from his chest. He couldn’t explain why he had so much concern for this child. With the boy’s father gone there was a chance his mother was simply working, and trying to make ends meet, and that’s why he was unsupervised. Perhaps he had cried while seeing Mulder and Maggie play because he missed his own father. If he had passed recently, those wounds would still be fresh.

“Hey.” Mulder said, leaning down to his daughter’s height and putting a hand on her shoulder. “He’s very shy; we don’t want to overwhelm him. Why don’t you and Mommy go play on the swing for a bit, so I can say ‘hello’ to him first.”

“Okay, Daddy.” She said, nodding her head. Scully smiled at Mulder as she led her daughter over to the swings.

Mulder trotted towards the park bench, trying to look as friendly and unimposing as he could.

The boy seemed to looking at Maggie and Scully, who had just reached the swing set.

“You didn’t sleep in the park overnight, did you?” Mulder joked, taking a seat on the bench and placing his backpack on the ground. Though his tone indicated he was joking, the fact that the boy was wearing the exact same clothes as yesterday made him wonder if it wasn’t a possibility.

“No.” Answered the boy, not diverting his eyes from the playground.

“Good to hear.” Said Mulder, unzipping the bag and reaching in to search for something. “Are you hungry?” Mulder asked, pulling out a small, clear container full of rice crispy treats.

The boy looked at the contents of Mulder’s hands and his face went from solemn to a smile.

“Are those M&Ms?” The boy asked.

“Sure are. You mentioning them yesterday made us hungry for them, so we whipped them up last night.” It wasn’t entirely true. It was the only thing Mulder knew for sure the kid liked, so he wanted to make sure he brought some along today. “We had plenty left over, so I thought you might like some.”

“How did you know I’d be here?” The boy looked almost suspicious, as he took the container from Mulder.

“Well…” He couldn’t very well tell him that their daughter may sometimes be able to read minds. “I just assumed you lived here.” Mulder smiled.

“Thanks, Mulder.” Said the boy, taking off the lid and grabbing one of the sticky marshmallow treats. From the boy’s tone, Mulder could swear the kid knew he’d made the bars just for him.

“You know my name, but I don’t know yours.” Said Mulder, zipping up the backpack.

“Charlie.” The boy answered, turning his attention back towards the swings.

“Charlie?” Mulder repeated, wondering if he should push for a surname. “Charlie Bucket?”

“Just ‘Charlie’.” Said the boy.

“Okay, Just Charlie.” Mulder smirked, knowing the kid wasn’t going to give up anything more.

The boy gave a slight smile, like he’d won some small victory. Mulder couldn’t be sure, but his eyes seemed to be focused on Scully.

“I brought my wife with me today. She would have come yesterday, but she had to work at the hospital.” Explained Mulder.

“She’s a doctor.”

“That’s right.”

“What does she do?” Asked Charlie.

“She assists with surgeries, mainly. Do you know what that is?” Mulder asked, happy the kid seemed more willing to talk.

“Fixing people.” He answered, swallowing another bite of the rice crispy bar.

“Basically. She’s good at that. Even with hopeless cases like me.” Mulder chuckled.

“Do you love her?” The boy asked.

Mulder paused for a moment. In the thirty-one years he’d known Scully, nobody had ever asked him that question - not even Scully. There’d been many times when he could see that she’d wanted to ask. She’d begged him with her eyes to tell her, but she’d never asked with words. One thing that Maggie had taught him was that children were so much more honest and forthright than adults. They were so unafraid of emotions.

“Absolutely.” Said Mulder, looking over at his wife. She was smiling and having a conversation with Maggie as she pushed her on the swing. He loved that smile, and he loved her laugh even more. Working together all of those years ago, Mulder seldom saw her smile. Rarely did he hear her laugh. Now it felt like the oxygen that kept him alive. He felt addicted to her happiness… to making her happy.

For so many years he believed there was no way that he could make her happy. Not truly happy, the way she was at this moment. There was too much pain, and so much had gone wrong. He couldn’t give her the child she longed for so badly, or bring back the child they’d lost. He’d lost faith in himself somewhere along the way. But she never gave up on him. Even when all he had to offer her was darkness, she’d stood there in the distance holding a candle… waiting for him.

“Why?” The boy asked.

Mulder smiled. Maggie liked to use that word a lot too.

“She’s… strong. Kind. Loving. Loyal. Vicious. A damn force of nature when she wants to be. She’s smart… and wise. Beautiful. Vulnerable. Insurmountably resilient. Forgiving. Can kick my ass if I need it… She’s my best friend.”

Mulder turned his head to see the boy was staring at him.

“That’s just a summary. We’ve been together for too many years to go into specific reasons. We could be here all week.” Mulder smiled. “Would you like to say hello to her? I guarantee you’ll like her.”

The boy nodded his okay.

Mulder raised his hand to gather Scully’s attention, before waving her over when she caught his eye. She said something to Maggie before giving her a forceful push and beginning to walk in their direction.

She strode over to them, smiling gently. Mulder grinned at her.

“Hey.” She said, looking at Mulder.

“I’d like to introduce you to someone.” He replied, gesturing towards the boy. “This is Charlie.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Charlie.” Scully said, brushing her hair back behind her ear before reaching out to the boy, offering to shake his hand.

Scully briefly thought of her younger brother, Charlie, and remembered what he looked like at the same age. This boy looked nothing like her brother - no ginger hair or freckles. His dark hair peeked out beneath his winter beanie. The only resemblance was his bright blue eyes.

The boy stared at her outstretched hand for a moment before looking up into her eyes. He blinked at her, with an expression she couldn’t read. Scully patiently kept her hand out, hoping he would respond given time. She’d dealt with thousands of children over the years, and she knew some children could be very shy.

The boy slid himself off the bench and stood up, and Scully wondered if he was going to run away. But he made no move to do so, instead reaching his hands towards the breast pocket of his jacket. He unzipped it and reached in with his small hand, then pulled out a bright yellow flower, which looked to be a daisy. He stared at it for a moment, adjusting the petals that had been slightly squashed by his pocket, with his fingers. Charlie took a step towards Scully and held out the flower to her. She looked into his eyes - which now looked soft and innocent - and took the offering from him. She smiled at him, charmed by the child’s sweet face and unexpected gesture. He smiled at her, blinking once before turning and running away towards the swings.

Mulder looked slightly stunned as he stood up from the park bench and moved closer to Scully.

“Is that real?” He asked, reaching to feel the petals as Scully held the flower in her hand. She brought it up to her nose to smell it.

“It’s definitely real.”

“Where would he even get that? Asked Mulder, looking around. “It’s almost winter and everything is covered under an inch of snow.”

“Maybe he brought it from home. Purchased from a florist, maybe?” Ventured Scully.

“Maggie says he doesn’t have a home.”

“He doesn’t really have the appearance of a homeless or neglected child.” Scully pointed out.

“I agree, he doesn’t. But there’s something going on with this kid, Scully. Mark my words.”

“He’s charming, we can say that much.” Said Scully, smiling at the flower and then glancing at the boy who was now sitting on the swing next to Maggie. She slid the flower into her coat, so it stuck out, embellishing her pocket.

“Probably trying to steal you away. I shouldn’t have talked you up so much.” Said Mulder, shaking his head.

“You were talking me up?” Scully asked, playfully knocking into his side.

“No. Just stating some facts.” Said Mulder, avoiding her gaze.

“Such as?” She asked, smiling and moving in front of him so he couldn’t avoid her.

“Just that, objectively speaking, you’re pretty alright.” Mulder said, patting her on the shoulder.

Scully made a mock gasping sound.

“Oh, Mulder, you gush.”

Mulder smiled. There really was no need to hide from her how much he loved her - she knew already. He’d done everything he could in the past six years to make sure she knew. But he liked playing this game with her. He started slowly walking away from her, and smirked to himself when he heard her begin to follow.

“What did you say? I’m your one in seven billion?” She asked, pushing him in the back, laughing. She loved embarrassing him like this, and she knew he loved it too.

“Old ball and chain, more like it.” He smiled, knowing she was about to push him a lot harder. After walking ahead a few steps, he paused, wondering why she hadn’t responded yet, when he felt a snowball hit him in the back. He turned around to see her standing there, grinning at him with an expectant look.

He walked over to her, pulled the flower out of her pocket, and slid the stem behind her ear, adorning her hair with the bright yellow petals. His eyes said ‘I love you’ and she leaned up and kissed him sweetly on the mouth.

“Snowball fight!” Squealed Maggie, pummelling Mulder’s leg with a handful of snow.

“Snowball fight?” Repeated Mulder, pulling away from Scully and reaching towards his feet to arm himself. “You asked for it.” He said, gently throwing a snowball at her and hitting her on the back as she ran away giggling.

Maggie ran back towards the swings, knelt down and picked up another handful of snow. She patted it between her gloves, ran over towards Charlie and threw it at him. He made no attempts to avoid it so it hit him directly in the face.

Mulder was concerned for a moment, worried the boy might be upset or scared away by Maggie trying to initiate play so boldly, but was relieved when he saw the boy smile and then laugh at his daughter.

She ran away from him, and he jumped off the swing and began to chase her. He could tell Charlie was purposefully running slowly, not really intending to catch her, the same way he and Scully did when they played this game with her.

Mulder and Scully both smiled as they watched the children play together. Mulder glanced over at Scully, and he knew she was feeling the same mixture of happiness and melancholy that Mulder had experienced yesterday, while thinking about Maggie’s lack of siblings and loss of their son. He reached out and squeezed her shoulder, and she turned to look at him. She already knew that he knew she was thinking of William. He always knew. She moved quickly into his arms, and he hugged her tightly against him, tucking her head safely under her chin.

She continued to watch the kids play as she rested her head against his chest. She closed her eyes and smiled, listening to the sound of the two children giggling. The feel of her husband’s arms around her lulled her into a place of peace. This was a taste of what could have been, but what she had was already so perfect, and so miraculous. Her little girl was everything.

Maggie soon got tired and began to slow down, forcing the boy to catch her. He tagged her and she began chasing him, her pink snow boots making a trail of heart shapes in the snow as she ran. After a few laps around the playground the boy slowed down and Maggie tackled him to the ground, giggling. Charlie was truly laughing now, and Mulder couldn’t help but smile.

Mulder placed a kiss on Scully’s head before letting her go. Glancing at her face to make sure she was okay, and Scully gave him a silent nod of reassurance.

“Hey, c’mon kids, let’s have some lunch!” Called Mulder.

Maggie climbed off of the boy, still giggling and feeling triumphant in the game of chase. Both of the kids stood up and began running towards Mulder and Scully. Charlie, being older and taller, ran slightly ahead of her. Maggie following behind, tripped on a rock hidden beneath the snow and fell to the ground. Charlie hadn’t noticed and continued to run.

“Are you okay?” Mulder called as he began rushing in her direction, Scully following close behind.

Maggie, smiling and unhurt by her tumble, climbed back onto her feet and started brushing the snow off of her jacket. Mulder smiled, seeing that she fine, and dusting herself off like she usually did when she took a spill.

Suddenly a loud crack filled the air. Mulder stopped in his tracks, confused where the noise was coming from. It was a moment later when he saw the movement of the tree that towered above Maggie. His heart seized in his chest, and the feeling of absolute panic flooded every cell in his body.

“MAGGIE, RUN!” Mulder screamed, his feet moving faster than they had in years.

“MAGGIE, MOVE!!!” Screamed Scully, seeing exactly what Mulder had seen and matching Mulder pace by pace.

The tree was huge, the girth of the branches above exceeding the size of the trunk of an average tree, and one of those branches was about to fall. Maggie looked up, too frightened by the sound to register much else. The boy turned to look at her, and started to run back in her direction as soon as he did.

“CHARLIE! DON’T!” Mulder yelled, fear tearing through him. “GET AWAY FROM THE TREE!”

Mulder and Scully were still about fifteen yards away when the branch of wood finally split away and fell to the ground. Close enough to witness their daughter being struck with the force of a half-tonne log, and crushing her underneath it. Charlie had only just escaped the impact, still a few yards away from her when it fell, his efforts to reach her in vain.

“No. No. No.” Mulder could not process what he had just witnessed. His mind was trying to come up with scenarios as to why what he had just seen couldn’t possibly be real. Because if he chose to believe his eyes, his daughter was surely dead.

“MAGGIE!” Scully wailed. But the blood in Mulder’s ears and the confusion in his mind didn’t allow him to register it.

Mulder reached the branch first, still trying to convince himself that there was some way that she wasn’t underneath the massive tree limb. But all doubts were removed within a moment, when he spotted her new pink boots, with the rainbows on the side. All he could see were her feet and shins, the rest of her body was concealed and entombed underneath the massive weight of the broken branch.

“God. No.” Howled Mulder, throwing himself to the ground so he could examine his daughter’s condition. He grabbed onto her legs, which were disturbingly still. “Maggie!”

“Baby.” Scully cried, falling at her daughter’s feet. Her heart would never bear this loss. If Maggie was gone, she would soon be gone too.

Mulder jumped back up onto his feet.

“We’ve gotta get this off of her!” Mulder shouted, running around to the other side of the branch and reaching underneath to get a hold of it. “SCULLY!!” He shouted, urging her to move to help him. There was no way he was going to be able to lift it alone.

Scully nodded and moved to the opposite side of her daughter, grabbing onto the rough wood with her hands.

“You got it?” Mulder asked. Scully nodded, tears streaming down her face. “On the count of three, move it towards me, okay?”

“Okay.”

“One, two, three.”

Mulder and Scully used every ounce of strength they had, but they could not lift it off of their daughter. The adrenaline and fear rushing through their bodies was not enough to give them superhuman strength. It probably weighed over half a tonne. There was nobody else in sight to help them, and emergency crews would take too long to arrive. Though both of them feared it was too late already.

“Try again!” Mulder yelled. “One, two, three!” He gave it everything, he willed and wished and prayed for the strength to move it and save his little girl. But his prayers went unanswered.

“It’s not working, Mulder. We have to find another way.” Cried Scully.

“I’ll help you.” Said Charlie.

“If you want to help, use my phone to call an ambulance.” Mulder said, struggling against the weight of the branch, unwilling to give up.

“I can do it.” He said, moving next to Mulder and sliding his hands underneath the wood.

“Okay. Let’s try again. Scully!” Scully grabbed back on to the tree. “One, two, three!”

The three of them lifted the branch, just barely off the ground. Mulder was too relieved to question how the additional strength of a small boy was enough to make the difference. They shifted the wood off of Maggie’s tiny body.

“Oh god.” Scully wailed, falling to her knees beside her daughter’s mangled body. Scully was a seasoned doctor, she knew before she took her daughter’s pulse that she hadn’t survived. Nobody could survive these injuries. “My baby.”

Mulder rushed around the broken branch to meet Scully on the other side. When he saw his child, his stomach turned. He felt for sure he was going to be sick. He had never seen such a horrific sight in his life, and he’d seen some horrific things. The snow surrounding Maggie’s body was red, and her face was disfigured from the impact. A protrusion on the branch had pierced her chest and her coat was soaked with blood.

He moved to his daughter, kneeling down next to Scully and putting his hand gently on his daughter’s shoulder.

“What do we do?” Mulder asked frantically. “Scully, what do we do?”

Scully shook her head, and started sobbing.

“Scully?” He was looking to his wife to fix their little girl, even though he knew he was asking the impossible. One didn’t need to be a doctor to recognise that her injuries were fatal. “We have to do something.” He choked out.

“Mulder, these injuries are catastrophic. She has a depressed skull fracture.” Scully knew she had almost certainly died instantly. “There’s nothing that can be done, by anyone.” She whimpered, her heart breaking for her husband as much as it was for herself.

“No.” Mulder said, placing his head in his hands and starting to cry. “Noooooo.” His sobbing filled the air. Scully had been with this man for over three decades, she’d seen him through his worst pain, but she had never heard anything remotely resembling the sound he was making now. “I’m sorry. So sorry.” Mulder said, leaning over his daughter’s body and kissing her on the head. “My little girl. I’m so sorry Daddy wasn’t there.”

Scully took hold of her daughter’s hand, and removed her glove, exposing her little fingers. She held them and ran her thumb across them, the same way she did when Maggie was a baby and her hand was much smaller. Scully had experienced so much grief in her life, and she thought she’d known the depths of utmost despair. It wasn’t until this moment that she realised how much pain a human soul was capable of bearing.

Mulder continued to sob, and every wail punctured Scully’s heart with a hot dagger. She reached out and put her hand on his back, stroking up and down. She knew there was no way to ease his pain, or her own, but they could feel the pain together, as they always had.

Mulder sat up, his face red and blotchy and wet with tears. He reached one of his hands underneath his daughter’s head, and the other one under her back and lifted her small body onto his lap, cradling her against him.

“Let’s get you out of this snow.” He said, gently rocking her back and forth. Scully moved up against Mulder’s side, lifting her daughter’s boots onto her and grabbing onto her legs. She leant her head against Mulder’s shoulder and cried as they both held her.

Out of the corner of his eye, Mulder could see Charlie, a few yards away, sitting in the snow. Mulder looked at him and saw the boy was crying. No kid should witness this, he knew, but he was too stricken with grief at this moment to do anything but hold her.

The boy stood up and walked towards them, he stood there looking down on them for a few moments, before falling on his knees in front of them with tears in his eyes. He put his hand on Maggie’s lifeless body.

“I was supposed to save her.” Whimpered the boy. Scully remembered that Charlie had almost died too, trying to move their daughter out of harm’s way.

“There’s nothing you could have done.” Said Scully. “Nothing anyone could have done.” She said, willing Mulder to hear her words. But she was already certain that he would blame himself. Even though it was a freak accident, he would use this grief as a weapon against himself. That’s what he always did, and this time Scully was sure it was going to destroy the both of them.

“No. I was supposed to save her.” Repeated the boy, with tears in his eyes. He rose up on his knees to look at Maggie.

Tears rolled down Mulder’s cheeks onto his daughter’s face, which was barely recognisable. He closed his eyes and tried to imagine that she was just sleeping.

The boy took off his gloves and put them to his side. He then took Maggie’s right hand and removed her glove, and held it. Scully was the only one who was watching, Mulder had dissociated from realty.

“What do I do?” He whispered, his cheeks wet with tears. “What am I supposed to do?” He closed his eyes then, and held tightly onto Maggie’s hand. Scully could see his knuckles going white with the force of the grip and his arm began to shake with the tightening of his muscles. His face contorted, as if he were in pain.

A second later Scully heard a high pitched ringing in her ears. It was so loud, it was almost deafening. It wasn’t painful, but it was disorienting. She felt Mulder flinch at her side, and when she looked at him she could tell he was hearing the same ringing sound.

Mulder’s eyes were open now, brought back to reality with the force of the sound in his head. The sound reminded him of one he’d heard years ago, when he’d encountered a young man named Kyle, who could kill people with thought. The sound was similar, but not the same. Different in that it did not cause pain, or compel him to do anything. Mulder’s eyes, as well as Scully’s now fixed on the boy sitting in front of him.

He looked like he was in pain, or concentrating.

“Are you okay?” Scully asked. She couldn’t hear the sound of her own voice, so she wasn’t even sure words had come out.

A few moments later, blood started dripping from the boy’s nose and then from his ears. Mulder couldn’t tell if Charlie was the one creating the sound or the boy was possibly being attacked by some unseen force. He’d seen Kyle kill his father, and blood had spilled out of every orifice.

“Hey.” Yelled Mulder. “Are you okay?”

The boy showed no evidence that he’d heard Mulder, his grip tightened on the little girl.

“Hey!” Mulder yelled, giving the boy’s shoulder a shake.

The boy suddenly opened his eyes, and the sound stopped instantly. He breathed heavily and looked almost scared, as he looked into Mulder’s eyes.

“Charlie, what’s wrong?” Asked Scully.

The boy looked at Scully and then at Mulder, climbed to his feet and began to run, disappearing behind the tree that had taken their daughter’s life.

Neither Mulder or Scully were in any state to pursue him. Grief surged through their hearts again, with the momentary distraction now gone. Scully closed her eyes and leant against Mulder’s shoulder. He was too afraid to look down at his little girl. He was too afraid to move or do anything. So he closed his eyes and continued to hold her.

“Daddy?” Came a muffled voice against his chest. Mulder pulled away from his daughter and looked down. “You’re squishing me!” Said Maggie, sounding amused but displeased.

“Maggie?” Said Mulder, astonished and not quite believing he hadn’t gone mad. Although she was still covered in blood, her face had returned to normal. The depression in her skull was gone. She tried to sit up, and Mulder helped her into a sitting position in his lap.

“Maggie?” Whispered Scully, also not believing what she was seeing. She had a son who could survive a bullet through the skull, but she still couldn’t believe it. “Baby, is that you?”

“Of course it’s me!” She laughed. “You’re silly, Mommy.”

Maggie looked around and saw the blood on the ground and on herself, and the fallen tree limb.

“What happened?” She asked.

“You had an accident.” Whispered Mulder, pulling her into his arms. Their miracle baby was full of miracles.

“He saved me, didn’t he?” Asked Maggie.

“Who, sweetie?” Asked Scully.

“William.” She said, sweetly.

Mulder and Scully were both trying to process what was being said to them. They looked at each other and then in the direction Charlie had run away.

“You think William saved you?” Mulder asked, looking into his daughter’s eyes, still amazed she was alive and breathing.

“I knew he would. That’s why he came to the park to play.” She said.

“Maggie, are you saying that Charlie is William?” Scully asked.

Maggie nodded her head gently.

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Asked Mulder, gently swiping his thumb against Maggie’s cheek.

“Because he asked me not to. He wanted to be Charlie.” She said, sounding almost ashamed. “Was that wrong?”

“No.” Mulder laughed, with tears in his eyes. “It’s perfect. You’re perfect.”

He kissed her on the nose, and handed her over to Scully, knowing how badly his wife must need to hold their little girl.

“Maggie.” She whispered, crying into the girl’s shoulder. She couldn’t believe her child had returned to her. “Mommy loves you so much.”

“I love you too.” Said Maggie. “You don’t have to cry anymore, Mommy. I’m not deaded.”

Scully laughed, rocking the little girl back and forth and kissing her. Mulder had never felt more gratitude in his life. His wife and child were by his side, alive and happy, and William was close by, maybe even watching them at this moment and experiencing this joy with them.

William had saved his little sister.

***

“Hey, I’ve heated up your dinner.” Mulder said, standing in the doorway of Maggie’s bedroom.

Maggie was lying in the middle of her twin bed, tucked comfortably underneath the blankets. Scully was above the covers, teetering on the edge of the bed, with her arm draped protectively over the sleeping child.

“I’m not leaving her.” Whispered Scully. “I’m going to stay here all night, and watch her sleep.”

“She’s fine, Scully. You checked every inch of her. You can spare ten minutes to eat, you must be starving.” Mulder coaxed.

“Not happening.” She stated, not taking her eyes off of her daughter.

“How about I bring your plate up here, then?” Mulder offered.

“Okay.” She agreed. Usually they had a rule against eating in the bedrooms - it was a necessary enforcement when you had a young child in the house.

Mulder walked into the room. He wanted to imprint this moment on his memory. This picture of his two precious girls lying together, peaceful and safe, happy and at rest… it was everything. He walked over to the side of the bed that Scully was lying on, leant over and kissed her on the head.

“I love you.” He whispered.

“I know.” She smiled, opening her eyes and turning her face towards his. He looked at her for a moment before descending onto her lips. The kiss was soft, and comforting and offered recompense for the terrible day they had just experienced.

“I’ll be right back.” Said Mulder. “Try not to fall asleep in the half an hour it takes me to get down and up the stairs these days.”

She smiled and nodded. He was exaggerating of course, but they both were feeling pained after the events of the afternoon. Though it was hard to tell apart the physical exhaustion from the psychological.

Mulder gave Maggie a kiss on the cheek before standing up. He left the room smiling back on them.

Exaggeration or not, it definitely took him longer to get down stairs than it used to. Strangely it was more painful going down than coming up, something he didn’t understand, but Scully could probably explain if he told her about it. He was too happy to be bothered by the pain tonight, but he still made an unconscious groan when his knees protested those last few stairs.

“Does it hurt?” Asked the boy, sitting at the kitchen table next to Scully’s dinner.

Mulder looked over, frozen for a moment, while his brain began to process that William was really there. He walked across the living area and into the kitchen. He smiled at the small boy.

“It’s nothing, just a little arthritic pain.” Answered Mulder, with a smile. “It’s good to see you, kid.”

The boy smiled at him.

“You know you don’t have to hide anymore. We know who you are.” Said Mulder.

“I know you do.” Answered William. “How is she?”

“Fine. Thanks to you.” Mulder said, pulling out a chair from the table and sitting down. “There is no way that I can ever repay you. I don’t know what you did, or how you did it. But I’m tremendously grateful.”

“I don’t know how I did it either. I’ve healed people before, but never like that. I think it could be because of her DNA. Maybe I could do it because she shares the same DNA as me, or maybe her DNA makes her tissues more resilient or easier to repair, like mine.”

“So far she’s not shown any signs of being different in that way. She seems to get sick and recover at the same rate as a typical child. Injuries bleed and heal normally.” Said Mulder.

“I’m glad to hear that. It sucks being different.”

“She’s definitely different. But I don’t ever want her to believe that’s a bad thing.” Mulder explained.

The boy scoffed with a slight smile.

“What is it?” Asked Mulder, tilting his head to the side.

“Nothing. I was just wondering what kind of person I’d be today if you had raised me.” Confessed William.

“I think your parents did a pretty god job, judging from the result.” Mulder tried to reassure him.

He knew quite a bit about Jackson’s troubled past. But he also knew this kid had allowed himself to be executed in order to save the world. Mulder had seen his power, and he had no doubt that William could have easily killed the smoking man. But he hadn’t, instead sacrificing himself, because he believed he was only created to hurt people.

“Maybe. My parents loved me, I never doubted that. But they were scared of me… scared of what I could do. And that made me scared of myself. It made me angry at myself and everyone else. They certainly never thought my being different was a good thing. They taught me to repress my abilities, and because of that I had no control over them. They would only come out when I was angry and when I wanted to hurt people. I’d always believed I was born to destroy things, and six years ago I had that confirmed for me. I never realised how my being different could help this world… not until today.”

“What exactly did happen today?” Asked Mulder.

“You mean why was I there, pretending to be this?” Said William, gesturing towards himself.

“Yes.” Mulder nodded.

“About a month ago, I had a vision. It was just a picture. The same picture over and over again. A pair of pink snow boots with rainbows on the side. There was snow, a tree, and blood. That’s all. I didn’t know when, or where or even who it was. I didn’t know why I was seeing it or what I was supposed to do. But I knew Maggie liked rainbows.”

“How did you know that?” Asked Mulder.

“I come see you all from time to time. Bit of a stalker, I guess.” Answered William, looking down at his hands, almost as if he were embarrassed.

“You’ve been here? In this house?” Mulder was floored.

“Yes.” William looked at him and nodded.

“How?” Asked Mulder, giving his head a slight shake.

“Walking through the front door. Using my cloaking abilities doesn’t take any effort anymore. It doesn’t hurt. It’s as simple as having my eyes open or closed. It’s just like flicking on a switch in my brain. Or rather, it’s like turning a dial with an infinite amount of settings and frequencies. Like this…” Said William, snapping his fingers.

Mulder’s mouth dropped open as William vanished before his eyes. He was instantly alarmed.

“William?!” Mulder called, his concern evident. He wasn’t ready for William to disappear again.

“Hey.” Said William, now sitting in the same position he had just been in, but as his true, adult self. William barely looked any different than the last time he had seen him, at age seventeen.

“You can make yourself invisible?” Mulder asked, amazed.

“Not really. I just turn off the part of your brain that can see me. Instead of projecting an image of someone, I erase the image of myself, and your brain fills in the blank space.” He explained.

“That’s incredible.”

“It’s pretty sweet. Proud to say I’ve never used that particular ability for evil.” William smiled.

“No women’s locker room visits then?” Mulder asked. He could imagine the temptations that would come with this ability, especially as a teenager.

“Scout’s honour.” Said William, holding up three fingers. “Okay, I have snuck into several dozen movies, but we all know today’s movies are complete trash anyway.”

“So you know us then? You know Maggie?” The thought that his son had been around for years without him knowing, simultaneously filled him with happiness but also a slight frustration.

“Yes. I’ve been coming to visit her since she was a baby. Not for long. Just to check on her. I hope that’s okay.”

“Of course, William. She’s your sister, and your watchful eye just saved her life today.” Said Mulder, reaching out and grasping onto William’s arm.

“Sometimes I’d walk behind you and Dana while you were pushing her in her stroller. There have been days when I would just sit on the porch outside and listen to the three of you. I’ve watched you exchange Christmas gifts, and blow out birthday candles.”

“Why hide from us? You should have been part of all of that.” Questioned Mulder, his frustration evident.

“You know why. There will never be a shortage of people who want to kill me. I’m still a target. The only way I’m not one is when nobody can see me. I’ve managed to stay under the radar for six years, and that’s because I haven’t made contact with anybody. I won’t be responsible for the death of another family.” Said William, pulling his arm away from Mulder.

“You’re not responsible for the death of your parents.”

“I’d like to believe that, but we both know if I hadn’t been the child they adopted they would be alive today.” William looked away with remorse in his eyes.

Mulder sighed and shook his head.

“So you had a vision of Maggie a month ago. Why did you only approach us a couple of days ago?” Questioned Mulder. He needed to understand what happened today.

“No snow. I’d been following you since the first snowfall last week. I’d been waiting to see those, and also hoping I wouldn’t.” William pointed over at Maggie’s new snow boots, which were sitting on the living room floor. “I wanted to believe that what I saw meant nothing. But the visions I was having years ago, I was having so I could stop that future from coming to pass. I thought that’s what I was supposed to do this time.”

“But you didn’t need to reveal yourself to do that. There’s another reason you appeared as Charlie.” Mulder remembered the tears in his eyes as William had watched him and Maggie play on the swings. His son was lonely, and how could he not be after being invisible for six years? Watching your family but knowing you can’t ever speak with them. It was like living the life of a ghost… not really living at all.

“I guess… I liked having an excuse to let you see me. Even if I wasn’t me.” Said William.

Somehow that had been more painful to William than not being seen at all.

“Charlie?” Mulder said, raising his eyebrows curiously.

“I don’t know if you know this, but by pure coincidence, both Dana and my mother gave me the same middle name.”

Mulder had known that.

“Charles.” Stated Mulder.

“Yes.” William nodded.

“After Scully’s grandfather, Charles, just like Scully’s brother Charlie.” Said, Mulder. “What is it you want to be called?”

“Whatever makes you happy, I won’t be around to hear it anyway.” William said, looking away.

“You can’t just leave again. Please stay.” Mulder was desperate to have more time with his son, and to have Scully finally spend some time with him.

“You know I can’t, Mulder.” He said, staring Mulder in the eyes with determination.

“She’s been waiting over twenty years just to hold you again.” Mulder said, putting his hand on top of his son’s.

“I know. I wish I could be what she wanted me to be. More so I wish I could go back in time and stop those sons of bitches from doing what they did to her.” Said William, holding back the tears. “She’s been through so much pain and violence. Violated again and again, and I hate that I was the purpose and the product of that. I was the reason. I’ve spent my life hurting her and I never even knew it.”

William stood up from the table and started pacing the kitchen, trying to calm himself.

“That’s not true. You were so loved and so wanted. You still are.” Mulder stood up and walked over to William, and put a hand on his shoulder, stopping him in his tracks.  William turned around with tears in his eyes and Mulder pulled him in for a hug. “My boy.” Mulder said, placing a hand on the back of his neck and hugging him close.

He felt William resist but after a few moments he surrendered and put his arms around Mulder, hugging him just as tight.

“When I went looking for the other test subjects of Project Crossroads, do you know what I found?”

“What?” Asked Mulder, loosening his grip on the young man and stepping away.

“They don’t exist. They’re all dead. Dispatched before they could become too strong to defend themselves or be a threat. Along with all of the test subjects, their mothers were also disposed of. If Scully hadn’t given me up for adoption, the both of us would almost certainly be dead. She saved me. She saved us both. I hate that she’s spent so many years feeling guilty for doing the right thing.”

“You need to tell her that. She needs to hear that from you. Okay? You came here tonight for a reason. You need to be seen. You need to talk to us and to be heard, even if it’s only for a little while and even if it’s only sometimes.” Mulder tried to reason with his son.

William nodded. He was scared. Scared of being a disappointment. Scared of not being enough. But he knew that Mulder was right. He hadn’t needed to reveal himself in order to help Maggie. He’d done that for himself. William looked at the centre of the kitchen table, where there sat the tiniest vase he’d ever seen. Inside sat the yellow flower that he had given Scully in the park earlier that day.

“Go see her.” Mulder pleaded.

“Okay.” He agreed, though he was afraid.

William walked across the living room to the bottom of the stairs. He put his hand on the banister and looked up - his heart was beating faster in his chest.

“Do you want me to come with you?” Mulder asked, realising he may need the support.

William nodded and Mulder walked over to him. He put his hand on his shoulder and gave him a comforting smile.

“You lead the way.” Said Mulder, gesturing towards the steps. “I’ll slow you down otherwise.”

William put his foot onto the bottom step, hesitated and turned around to look at Mulder. He reached down for Mulder’s hand and took it into his own, and put his other hand on top, encasing Mulder’s hand within his.

“What are you doing?” Asked Mulder. William had his eyes closed, and Mulder heard the ringing sound in his ears, though not nearly as loud as he had this afternoon. This was more like intense tinnitus, or listening to a microphone screech from far away. After about thirty seconds the sound stopped, and Mulder wondered what had happened. William smiled at him, turned and began walking up the steps.

Mulder put his foot on the first step to follow him. It only took him until the second step to realise.

“Are you kidding me?” He said, bounding up the stairs to catch up with William with a playful smile on his face. The pain was completely gone. If this lasted, he’d be able to spend days chasing Maggie around without arthritis slowing him down. He may even be able to pin Scully up against their bedroom wall, which was something they hadn’t done in years. He missed that. He certainly still had the strength, but the pain in his knees took some of the fun out of it. “Is this going to last?” Asked Mulder, grabbing onto William’s arm as they came to the landing.

“It should for a while. I can’t prevent future degeneration. I can only fix what has already occurred.”

“You’ve done this before?” Mulder asked.

“Only a few times. There was an old homeless guy who tried to help me out when I was eighteen. The kind of person who would give you his last can of beans when he’s starving. He was blind in one eye and losing sight in the other. I restored his sight completely. I saw him a few months ago - he’s working in a processing plant now, and can still see perfectly.”

Mulder shook his head in wonder.

William and Mulder walked slowly down the hallway. They came to a stop at Maggie’s bedroom door, which was wide open. They could both see Maggie and Scully lying on the bed. Scully appeared to have fallen asleep. Mulder looked at William and he could tell that he was nervous.

“C’mon.” Said Mulder, putting a hand on his shoulder and leading him into the room. “She’s going to be so happy to see you.” Mulder assured him.

They both moved to the end of the bed and paused there for a moment. Mulder took stock of the situation, realising this was the first time he’d ever experienced his whole family being together in the one room.

“Lie down.” Said Mulder, gesturing to the bed.

“Are you sure?” William whispered.

“Yeah. I can’t think of anything she’d rather see when she opens her eyes.” Mulder smiled.

William did as he was instructed and lowered himself onto the bed beside Maggie, being careful not to disturb the tiny girl. There was just enough space for him to lie on his side and not fall off.

Mulder walked over to Scully’s side and reached down to whisper in her ear.

“Scully.” He said. “Scully. Wake up.” He nudged her shoulder in order to wake her. She roused a little but didn’t open her eyes.

“Thank you. I’ll eat it in a minute.” She mumbled.

Mulder smiled and brushed his fingers through her hair.

“Someone’s here to see you.” Said Mulder, before giving her a kiss on the temple.

She opened her eyes then. It took a moment for her eyes to focus and her brain to process what she was seeing.

“William?” She said, tears already welling in her eyes.

Mulder gave her another kiss and stepped away from the bed. He wanted this moment to just be hers. She deserved that after all this time. He walked back to Maggie’s door, but turned back to look at his wife and children before he left the room. He watched as Scully reached across Maggie to lay her hand on William’s cheek. She was crying. She looked over at Mulder, who smiled at her knowingly. He made an effort to try to stamp this moment into his memory, so he could hold onto it and play it back again forever. He turned and left the room.

“Thank you. Thank you, so much.” Spluttered Scully, through her tears. She was trying to restrain them, and remain quiet so she didn’t wake Maggie, but she could not contain her emotions. “What you did for us today, we could never repay you for.”

“You saved my life once. It seems right, in a way. You did the hardest thing, in letting me go, it seems to me if anyone should have the good karma to have a child return to them, it would be you. Maybe that’s why I had the vision of her. So I could say thank you.” Whispered William.

“You’re thanking me?” Said Scully, incredulously. She stroked his cheek with her thumb.

“I’d be dead if it wasn’t for you. All of the other subjects of Project Crossroads were terminated. But you saved me, and you saved yourself. I had a happy childhood because of you. I’m alive today because of you.” William wanted to speak all of the words that he knew Scully longed to hear. She had suffered too many years on his account.

When he was younger, William used to feel angry about being given up for adoption. It only strengthened in his mind that there was something irrevocably wrong with him. If his own mother couldn’t even love him, not even enough to not abandon him, then there was surely something fundamentally wrong.

But he knew his mother now. He’d known Dana Scully for years, even if she didn’t really know him. He’d watched her as she cradled her newborn daughter against her, Mulder at her side, and he’d remembered something. He wasn’t sure if it was his own memory, or perhaps it had been Scully’s memory he was seeing, or even Mulder’s. But he’d seen himself as a baby, held snuggly between them as they kissed. He’d realised then that he had been loved, just as Maggie was loved. He no longer felt like these two were strangers with a vague association to a past that he couldn’t remember… they were his family.

“I don’t want you to cry anymore on my birthday.” Said William, bringing his hand up and laying it on top of Scully’s. “Mulder was right that time in the morgue… you don’t have anything to apologise for. You did the right thing.”

“I’d have given anything to have been able to keep you.” She said, choking back a sob.

“I know. I’m so sorry about what they did to you. All of it.” Said William, his remorse evident in his tone.

“You were a gift. No matter how that came about, that’s what you will always be to me. You’re the reason Maggie is here, and not just because you saved her life today. I believe that carrying you healed me. Your DNA restored my ova. I would never have been able to have another child, if you weren’t so special.” Scully tried to soothe him.

“I’ve read the X-Files. All of them.” Said William.  “I’ve read every case report you and Mulder have ever written. I know about your abduction, and the infertility and cancer that followed. I know what the two of you went through together, and all I can say is, I hope one day I can be as strong as you are. I hope I can be for the world, what you two have been.”

“You’ve read the X-Files? How?” Scully asked, confused how he would have gained access to classified government documents. Though she already knew he had been able to breach the Department of Defence’s security.

“Once something goes digital it’s hard to keep it under wraps. Let’s just say that encryption is my specialty.” William smiled. His mischievous grin reminded her of Mulder when he was younger.

Scully smiled back at him, the tears starting to slow now. William reached across Maggie and rested his hand on Scully’s side.

“You know I can’t stay for long. But I can stay for as long as you need me to.” Said William, in a hushed voice.

Scully nodded.

“I love you.” Whispered Scully.

“I love you too, Mom.”

***

Mulder heard footsteps coming down the stairs and glanced at his watch. It had been almost three hours since he’d left them alone upstairs. He’d sat here the entire time, just thinking. A lot had happened today that he had to think about. Though it wasn’t just today that preoccupied his thoughts, but everything that had happened in the past few decades.

William appeared at the bottom of the stairs, and glanced over at Mulder.

“Is she sleeping?” Asked Mulder.

“Yes. I said goodbye before she fell asleep though.” William assured him. He walked over to the kitchen table and stood by Mulder’s side.

“You’re leaving now?” Mulder asked, casually. He really wanted to spend more time with him, but it was only right that Scully should be the priority.

“Yeah.” Answered William.

“You’re going to be around though? Aren’t you?” Mulder said, sounding hopeful.

“Count on it.” Said William, resting his hand on Mulder’s shoulder.

Mulder could feel the sadness welling in his chest and tears prickling his eyes. He wished William could stay. This wasn’t right. Mulder stood up from the chair and wrapped his arms around his son. William smiled and held him close. He let Mulder hold on for as long as he needed, which was a lot longer than your average man hug.

“I want you to know something.” Said William “I’m not sure if it matters to you, but I think you should know anyway.”

“What is it?” Mulder asked, laying his hand on William’s shoulder.

“About five years ago, I was trying to find the others like me. I discovered that they were all dead, but in the process of searching, I also found out something else. I was able to locate Dr. Masao Matsumoto.”

“The doctor in charge of Project Crossroads?”

“The doctor responsible for my existence, yes. He was very remorseful, and very scared of me. He had destroyed most of the paperwork involved, but he was able to direct me to where I could find what was left - certain files that not even he had access to. I found the documentation on myself, and he was also able to explain to me the basics of how I came to be about. I didn’t really give him a choice not to tell me.”

Mulder could see William hesitate to say what he was about to say next.

“Go on.” Mulder prompted.

“Dana was drugged, so that she would remain unconscious for a prolonged period. She was then collected by the scientists involved in the project and taken to a nearby facility, where they conducted the implantation of the embryo.”

Mulder’s fist tightened. It made him furious to think of Scully’s unconscious body being violated.

“I have chimeric blood. DNA that is partly mine and partly alien. Alien DNA that was harvested and perpetuated in various experiments, since the crash at Roswell. But the DNA that’s mine is only made up of two sources… Dana’s and yours.”

“Mine?” Said Mulder, his surprise evident.

“Her ova and your sperm sample were both collected from the fertility clinic that you and Dana had been using in attempts to conceive a child.” Explained William.

“You’re right, that really doesn’t matter to me.” Mulder said, pulling him in for another hug. “I never checked your DNA against my own, not because I was afraid of finding out, but because it didn’t matter. I never thought of you as anything but my son.”

The knowledge that William was in fact his biological son really didn’t change a thing. William was always his. Even on that night on the dock, when Scully had tried to tell him that William wasn’t his… Never did he feel it in his heart.

He was not wired to let things go. When he loved someone, he did so with relentless loyalty. His mind would always insist that there was a way, a possibility, a day when things would be right again. No matter how hopeless or impossible a situation seemed, there was always a voice in the back of his mind that would never allow him to let go.

“I suspected that.” Said William, releasing himself from his father’s embrace. “But I think it might matter to her.” William turned his head around to look at the stairs which would lead up to Scully. “I think you should be the one to tell her. When you feel the time is right.”

Mulder nodded his head and smiled, giving his son a pat on the back. Mulder knew that this really would mean a lot to Scully. She could finally release all of that guilt that she’d expressed to him while in the bath the night before. She had lived with guilt over things she couldn’t control for too long.

“I should get out of here.” Said William, moving away from Mulder. Mulder knew better than to try to stop him.

“I hope you’ll be back soon.” Said Mulder, as William reached the door.

William didn’t turn around or answer. He didn’t want to leave and if he wanted to find an excuse to stay, or come back, he could easily find one. But he knew he had to go.

“Hey!” Shouted Mulder, as William was about to walk out the door. His tone commanded William to turn around, and so he did.

Mulder rushed over to William, a container of rice crispy treats with M&Ms in his hand.

“Take these with you” Mulder said, pushing them into his hands. 

William took the container and smiled.

“I love you, kid.” Said Mulder, earnestly.

“I love you too, Dad.” Answered William, giving him one last hug before turning around and walking out the door.

Mulder stood out on the porch for a few minutes, watching his son disappear into the darkness. He was sad to see him go, but still he couldn’t help but smile. It had taken over twenty years, but he’d finally heard his son call him ‘dad’.


End file.
